The Pauline Dilemma

By Brother R. Michel Lankford

Paul Teaching in the Synagogues

Whether modern Christians want to face up to it or not, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 creates a number of HUGE dilemmas for modern-day traditional Christianity.

ISSUE: You have to ask yourself if you REALLY BELIEVE the, "New Testament." 

FACT: Paul the apostle of Grace wrote these words more than 20 years AFTER the death and the resurrection of the Messiah. 

FACT: When Paul the apostle wrote these words, there was NO such thing as the, "New Testament.” We did not have a compiled New Testament until AFTER A.D. 300. 

FACT: That means that when Paul the apostle referred to, "The SCRIPTURES," Paul could ONLY be referring to the Old Testament; [Genesis through Malachi], because in Paul's day, that is all the SCRIPTURE that they had.

Now either Paul was telling the truth in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, or he was not. Either Paul was telling the truth when he said that ALL Scripture IS God-Breathed, or Paul was wrong. 

FACT: YHWH's Laws, Commandments, and the Instructions in the Torah, [Genesis through Deuteronomy]; it IS part of Scripture. Therefore, the Torah of YHWH, IS, STILL profitable for doctrine and teaching. The Torah of Yahweh is STILL profitable to reprove and to correct us. The Torah of Yahweh is STILL profitable to instruct us in righteousness before YHWH Almighty God.

FACT: IF you claim that the Torah of YHWH is no longer valid and no longer profitable to instruct us how to be righteous before YHWH Almighty God, then you are saying that Paul was WRONG in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

IF on the other hand, Paul was RIGHT and he told the TRUTH in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, then the Torah IS STILL PROFITABLE to train me in Righteousness before YHWH, and the Torah COULD NOT have been abolished and done away with at the cross.

Something can either remain profitable to train me in righteousness, or something can be done away with, abolished, made null and void, and it becomes useless and unnecessary; but something cannot BOTH, be rendered meaningless and abolished, and still remain useful and profitable to train me in righteousness and equip me for every good work, at the same time. So which is it?

FACT: According to Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, ALL Scripture, [which INCLUDES Torah], IS still profitable for doctrine and teaching, for reproving and for correcting, and for instructing us on how to be righteous before YHWH Almighty God; and according to Paul himself, part of Torah’s PURPOSE is to CAUSE us to be perfected, and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

This again creates another serious dilemma for the modern Christian:

FACT: If you decide that no, the Torah was done away with and abolished at the cross, then once again you are saying the Paul was WRONG, and we don’t really need ALL of Scripture to make us complete and thoroughly equipped and thoroughly furnished to every good work. So if we don’t need the Torah to make us complete and to thoroughly equip us for every good work, then once again you are saying that Paul was WRONG in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

That concept creates another huge dilemma in and of itself. If Paul was saying that the Torah was invalidated at the cross, then that would mean that Paul CONTRADICTED himself here in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. IF the Torah of YHWH was done away with at the cross, that means that Paul got THIS WRONG in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

That idea begs another HUGE question. IF the Torah of YHWH has in fact been abolished at the cross, then it is no longer valid to instruct me on how to be righteous before YHWH. That would mean that the Torah can no longer perfect me or equip me for every good work, as Paul said that it could. So IF Paul was wrong in what he said about Torah in 2 Timothy 3:16-17; then WHAT ELSE did Paul get WRONG? If Paul is wrong about Torah in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, then WHERE ELSE did Paul miss the boat? If he missed once here, then he can miss again, right?

DILEMMA If Paul was WRONG in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, then Paul would also be a FALSE teacher by definition, and this would mean that NONE of those other Pauline doctrines which APPEAR to say that the Torah has been abolished could be valid or reliable either.

IF on the other hand, you decide that the apostle Paul was RIGHT and CORRECT in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, then the Torah of YHWH CANNOT be abolished at the cross, because according to Paul, we still NEED Torah to form good doctrine, to teach us, to correct and reprove us, to instruct us and how to be righteous before YHWH, and to perfect us, to complete us, and to make us thoroughly equipped for every good work.

FACT: If you AGREE with Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, then Paul clearly said that believers CANNOT be THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED for every good work WITHOUT basing their doctrine on Torah, along with all the other Scriptures.

According to Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, we still need to base our doctrine and instructions on the Torah, and without it we CANNOT be thoroughly equipped for every good work. That creates a HUGE dilemma for modern Christian theology, whether they like it or not.

I believe that Paul was CORRECT and telling the TRUTH in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. I believe that the Torah of YHWH IS STILL PROFITABLE for all the functions that Paul describes, but that CLEARLY means that modern Christians have MISUNDERSTOOD and MISINTERPRETED Paul’s teachings when it APPEARS that Paul was teaching AGAINST the Torah of YHWH. Paul was NOT teaching AGAINST Torah, as it sometimes APPEARS that he was teaching, according to the traditional Christian; because that would FORCE too many other things that Paul said to become FALSE, IF the traditional understanding of Paul’s doctrines were in fact correct.

Shalom,

Brother R Michel Lankford.